El Paso Mayor Leeser marks first 100 days in office

El Paso mayor Oscar Leeser talks about his first 100 days in office and the challenges that he has faced and about the successes he has since taking office. Leeser also spoke about the future of the office and changes that he will face soon with certain positions in his administration. (Ruben R. Ramirez / El Paso Times)

Mayor Oscar Leeser marked his first 100 days in office Wednesday, citing his push to recruit and retain businesses in El Paso as one of his top tasks since being elected.

"This is one of the biggest things we need to do, to go out and recruit businesses to El Paso and make sure that we compliment the businesses that are already here and that we're not going out looking for minimum wage jobs, but jobs that make a difference in our community," Leeser said from his office at City Hall.

Leeser has held a series of roundtables with area entrepreneurs, contractors, educators, and soon, manufacturing and automotive representatives, to brainstorm ideas on how to grow existing businesses and attract new ones to the region.

Cindy Ramos-Davidson, chief executive officer of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, informally polled the group's members and had mostly positive comments about the mayor.

She said that while some felt that 100 days is too soon to evaluate Leeser, others are excited about his roundtable discussions and efforts to support small and start-up businesses.

"Everybody together will make one strong mind," said Leeser, the city's 53rd mayor. "Anybody who thinks he has all the right answers will be a weak leader. We want to unite everybody and help us come up with the next great idea."

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While that idea comes, Leeser said, he's working to get past the learning curve as a first-time elected official.

Aside from the roundtables, he lists meeting with residents from across the city and elected officials from all levels, pushing a hire El Paso first initiative, and improving the notification process for proposed zoning changes among his accomplishments so far. He also said he's proud that he and his wife have kept his campaign promise to donate his $45,000 a year salary to charity, with a second donation to be announced next week.

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"I'm looking forward to successes that help our city grow," Leeser, 55, said. "We can do a lot of talking, but until we can show actual successes, talk is cheap."

Leeser recently traveled to San Antonio to meet with government and business leaders and learn how they approach job recruitment. He also met with Boeing, Southwest Airlines and Toyota officials to talk about El Paso. He also has plans to travel to Dallas, New York and Chicago.

"That's a great first step," said Richard Dayoub, chief executive officer of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce. "Going to these successful cities to educate and inform businesses about what El Paso has to offer, going there with a strategic message, is a great start."

Even before he was sworn into office, Leeser made the first big and controversial decision of his term: asking City Manager Joyce Wilson to stay on the job.

Leeser said it was the right decision to ensure a smooth transition, especially given that the next big task would be to approve a budget, which Wilson helps draft.

In August, Leeser cast the tie-breaking vote to approve a budget that also raised the tax rate.

That vote wasn't without criticism.

"I was disappointed," said Sal Gomez, who fought against the demolition of the former City Hall building. "I had the impression from his campaign that he wasn't going to raise taxes."

Leeser said he promised to balance the budget, not that he would not raise taxes. And while that remains the goal moving forward, Leeser said, much of what is supported in the budget was approved by the previous administration.

Most recently, Leeser made public email conversations about the controversial Downtown Triple-A baseball stadium between him and MountainStar Sports Group members, and pledged not to spend more than $64 million on the ballpark.

Leeser would not say whether he has received a written commitment from MountainStar that it would pay for cost overruns beyond that, but said an announcement may come soon. He did say that he will not make concessions on the ballpark cost or changes to the development agreement.

The ballpark has remained a divisive issue among the eight city representatives, and Leeser said it's his job to try to create unity while respecting everyone's opinion.

Today, the City Council and other city leaders will participate in a daylong strategic planning and goal-setting session.

Leeser said he's hopeful the meeting will improve unity and excitement about the city's future among its leaders.

"You need to represent your district, but really, you need to represent the whole city," he said. "It's important that we work as one."

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